Gotte

I'm just back from a short tour in the Black forest, and found about the only thing I'd do different was take a sleeping bag, light tent or bivi and bed roll, so I could keep going into less well populated areas and sleep out.
I'm at the ridimentary stages of planning a 10 day tour in Northern Spain, probably Costa Brava, for around this time next year. With the above in mind, has anyone had experience of stealth camping in norther Spain.
I wouldn;t take cookng equipment, just buy food as we travelled, but what did/do you do about washing. Last time I was in the Costa Brava, save for the sea, there didn;t seem to be much water at all.

becnal

Stealth camping in northern Spain was pretty easy for me. Just as easy as here in Germany.

Say, 10 days is more than enough for you to do the Camino de Santiago Bike Route. Hmmmmmmm.

Gotte

I don;t know if it's true, but I heard that was a tough one. Have you done it?

Were did you go in Spain, was it in the north? What was the terrain like? When I was there last June it was pretty dry and dusty, even near the sea. There were forest near us (we were in Begur), but they looked tinder dry.
Regarding the original post, what did you do for showering? Near the coast it would be okay but in land it must get pretty uncomfortable after a while, or am I being too soft?

jibi

if doing the Camino there are refugios along the way for walkers and cyclists to stay free.

I rough camped all over Spain, as well as campsites and hostels sometimes, but camping rough was Ok everywhere, for me.

https://www.gaerlan.com/others2/camino/resource.htm , for info on the refugios of the camino, or do a google for lots of others

george

TomasV

You should not have problems for stealth camping in Spain. Of course you can not do it in the National Parks or other preserved areas, but for the rest of the country you should not have problems as long as you are respectful. As you problably know the interior of Spain is low populated so it is easy in that part of the country to find many good places for wild camping.

Please note that it is absolutely forbidden to light any fire in the country during spring, summer and part of the autumn. Fires are a big problem here so please do not bring your cooking stuff.

Regards from Madrid, Spain.

Gotte

Thanksfor that. Don't worry, I remember how dry the place was. Liughting a fire would certainly be the last thing I would do.

How about that showering question?

wiles9

Depends on how close your nearest water supply is ?? Got fountains, fill a bag and make a shower. Not got fountains, what about rivers?? Depends how much you rough it though...

Ive just done a few camping trips in Spain, some in the overcrowded Montserrat, meant to be national park, but we still camped there with no problems, just dont make noise, hide a bit, and wait till its darker before pitching..

More Spanish here than i thought... nice :-)

becnal

This was my route in Spain.

TomasV

Montserrat is more a tourist/religious center than a natural park and you are right, it is always overcrowded. National parks are Covadonga, Aneto, Somiedo, Sierra Nevada and several others, mainly in mountain areas. These are well controlled and free camping is not allowed inside them.

As for showering, in mountains you should easily find water (not in all of them) but you have to be careful when in the Meseta or in the south, especially if you are making long distances during the summer.